Australia's population surpasses 27 million people amid record migration
Australia's population has surged past 27 million people decades earlier than originally predicted, thanks to a post-pandemic migration surge.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' population clock ticked past 27 million late yesterday.
The clock estimates the total population based on adding one new person to the population every 50 seconds.
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Australia's population has tipped over 27 million, thanks to a record influx of overseas migrants. Photo by Ian Waldie / Getty Images
That's calculated based on state population figures, which show one person is born every 1 minute and 42 seconds, one dies every 2 minutes and 52 seconds, one arrives in Australia every 45 seconds and one leaves every 2 minutes and 43 seconds.
It comes after ABS figures for 2022-2023 showed Australia gained a record 624,100 people in 12 months, thanks largely to a dramatic 72.7 per cent increase in overseas migration.
New South Wales was the most popular destination for overseas migrants, followed by Victoria and Queensland.
An influx of younger migrants has also seen the average age of the population drop from 39.28 years in 2023 to an estimated 37.58 in 2024, defying a steady upward trend as Australia's long-term population ages.
The Howard government's first inter-generational report forecast released in 2002 estimated the national population would not reach 25.3 million people until 2042.
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